“If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am first a man and only then a Frenchman… because I am necessarily a man, and only accidentally am I French.”

The harshest tyranny is that which acts under the protection of legality and the banner of justice.

Politics are a smooth file, which cuts gradually, and attains its end by slow progression.

…when the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost.

The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.

In a republic there is no coercive force as in other governments, the laws must therefore endeavor to supply this defect.

What cowardice it is to be dismayed by the happiness of others and devastated by there good fortune.

In republican governments, men are all equal; equal they are also in despotic governments: in the former, because they are everything; in the latter, because they are nothing.

There is hardly any grief that an hour’s reading will not dissipate.

There are countries where a man is worth nothing; there are others where he is worth less than nothing.

An injustice committed against anyone is a threat to everyone.

Virtue in a republic is the love of one’s country, that is the love of equality.

There is still another inconvenieney in conquests made by democracies; their government is ever odious to the conquered states. It is apparently monarchical, but in reality it is more oppressive than monarchy, as the experience of all ages and countries evinces.

Solemnity is the shield of idiots

Great commanders write their actions with simplicity; because they receive more glory from facts than from words.

Life was given to me as a favor, so I may abandon it when it is one no longer.

The English are busy; they don’t have time to be polite.

Start with local press first. Start with people you know. Don’t pitch every journalist.

A true philosopher is like an elephant; he never puts the second foot down until the first one is solidly in place.

I am sad that the LDK has chosen not to participate in that first meeting. They are unhappy about the current composition of the council.

The first duty of a leader is opti­mism. How does your sub­or­di­nate feel after meet­ing with you? Does he feel uplifted? If not, you are not a leader.

When you’re smart on crime, you start off by recognizing that both the victim, first of all, the victim, but also the person who did the crime are both human.

To me the thing with ‘Grease’ was that it was the first movie that as a kid I wanted to get up and do what they were doing.

Pontius Pilate was the first great censor and Jesus Christ the first great victim of censorship

Hopefully, as I get older in the business, I make my choices more accurately, and I perhaps know from either the script or the first meeting that it isn’t going to work.